


As Sure As Death and Taxes

by Levi_is_MrBoombastic



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 21 year old Eren, 30 year old Levi, Ereri Secret Santa, Levi has sort of a pottymouth, M/M, Non-Binary Hange Zoë, editor!Levi, mangaka!eren, semi fluff, set in Japan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-02 14:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2816003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Levi_is_MrBoombastic/pseuds/Levi_is_MrBoombastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren was as excited as he could be when he learned that he had won the Survey Shoten, one of the largest manga publishers within Japan, manga audition. He was even more so when he got a call from his editor. Unless this was a dream, Eren was going to have THE Levi Ackerman as his editor. He knew making manga was going to hard, it was a job after all. However, Eren did not expect having Levi as his editor would be so much work!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What's so funny, brat?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sora_do](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sora_do/gifts).



Today had been going so well, or so Levi had thought. His morning had been pretty good, unlike most mornings he had had the past few weeks. It did help that the new batch of black tea he had imported from England had come in.Then he found out Hanji had to visit one of their artists,so they wouldn’t be in the office during most of the day to bother the hell out of Levi. It had been going grandly, until Erwin, Levi’s boss, called him in to speak on the latest mangaka who would need an editor.   
  


Of course, Levi had been okay with the idea at first. Yes, he would have to get used to the new artist, but more importantly, he would have to tell the new artist on what he was going to tolerate and what he had absolutely no patience for. Levi had never been fond of newly recruited mangaka, always feeling the veteran artists to be less work. Not only did the professional mangaka know what they were doing more than the newest manga artists, but they had also been in the business long enough to know exactly who Levi was and how to handle his difficult personality. Of course, even if one had not been in the industry long, they would learn quickly of whom Levi Ackerman was. He was one of the highest regarded editors, after all, and those who wanted to make it big within the manga business would go to him in hopes of Levi taking on their case.

However, not all who came to Survey Shoten were lucky enough to get Levi as their editor. He was only given those that Erwin Smith allowed him to take, and sometimes, like now, Erwin would give Levi projects he knew he would end up detesting. To Levi, it was very simple, he hated dealing with BL mangaka. It was not that he was homophobic, quite the contrary as he was interesting in males himself. Rather it was the artists themselves that made him despise the genre so much. He had never been the best at dealing with happy, go lucky mangaka, and he had found out the hard way that the women that wrote BL were always the happiest. Of course, they too had their stressful moments of rushing to get things done when a deadline was approaching, but he had always found them to be his least favourite artists.

And Levi doubted this mangaka would be any different from the rest. An excessively happy woman with somewhat good art promise, mediocre plot concepts, and a disgusting disregard for an orderly art studio. Now, Levi knew that not all BL mangaka he had met were like this, hell, he had even met a few male BL artists in his ten years of working in the industry, but he just could not find it in himself to like BL mangaka or their stories. Granted, his favourite mangaka to work with were the psychological horror artists, so he had never cared for any artists who wrote remotely cheerful works.

Standing in front of his boss, Levi could feel his hands curl into small fists. “Could you repeat that, Erwin? I’m sure I didn’t hear you correctly. Did you just say I’d be editing for another yaoi mangaka?” Levi said with malice coating his every word. It took the shorter man everything to stop himself from running up to Erwin and throttle him with his own damn bolo tie.

Erwin just sat in his chair, smiling lightly at his fuming coworker. “Now, Levi, you know yaoi and BL are not the same thing. And I’m afraid it’s true, you’ll be editing a new recruit we gained from this year’s manga audition. I would have put Zoe on the mangaka, but Hange’s already swamped with all the other BL mangaka. I thought since you had dealt with BL artists before, it would be better for you to handle the newest addition. It was either that or give the case to one of the newer editors who’ve never edited BL before.” Erwin paused, feeling the need to give Levi a reassuring smile. ”Of course, I believe this artist is one of our most promising recruits, so it shouldn’t be that difficult for you. The winning entry was one of the best we’ve seen in the past five years, and I heard from Petra that the artist is really easy to get along with.” Erwin held up a thick folder, the white papers slightly showing to reveal a manuscript. That must be the brat’s entry.

Levi walked over to Erwin and lightly snatched the folder from the blond man’s hand, flipping open the folder to see the artist’s entry form. Levi could not believe what little information Survey Shoten required for people to enter the contest. Contestants only had to give their names, gender, age, and the name of their one shot manga. At the bottom of the page, after the terms and conditions of the contest, Levi could see a beautifully curved signature. It was a lot different from the usual signature that most contestants use. Usually, most artist would use basic Kanji, but the signature at the bottom of the form was written in western cursive, a lot like Levi’s signature.

Levi could feel his fist loosening. He was still angry at having to deal with this case, but if Erwin had such hope in the mangaka’s potential, then he would try to edit the damn BL manga without ripping up a lot of manuscript paper. “Fine, but listen here, eyebrows, next time you, Hanji, and I go out for drinks, you’re buying.” Levi began walking back towards his own office, his glare deepening every time his mind returned to the topic of his new mangaka. “Can’t fucking believe I have to deal with this shit again,” Levi hissed as he sat down in his chair. When he rebooted his laptop, he saw that he had received an email from Erwin.

\----------------------------------------------

From: Erwin Smith <ESmith@SurveyShoten.co>

Date: Wed, Nov 26, 2014 at 4:12 PM

Subject: Thought you may need this.

To: Levi Ackerman <LAckerman@SurveyShoten.co>

**  
**

Levi,

 

I was going to give you the artist’s contact info and apartment address

before you left, but instead I guess I can simply send it to you through this.

471-0855

Aichiken, Tokyo, Kakimotochou, 5-2-1

Kyoto Heights 307

Jaeger Eren

JAPAN

#080-6513-6650

Try not to scare the recruit, okay?

 

-ES

\----------------------------------------------

Levi stared at the mangaka’s name for a while. It was unusual to have a mangaka with such a European name, especially within Japan. Though Levi guessed it was most likely just a pin name rather than his/her actual name. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number Erwin had given him. It rang for a few seconds before a woman answer. “Yes? Hello?” The woman’s voice was leveled and calm, though Levi could hear an almost annoyed tone hidden within her greeting.

“Hello, this is Levi Ackerman with Survey Shoten, I’m calling to speak with Eren Jaeger.” Levi paused for a few seconds, waiting for the woman’s response. When he received none, Levi explained why he was calling. “I’m the editor Survey placed on Eren’s case, and I need to ask about when would be the best time to meet and talk about the projects Eren was thinking about creating." When Levi was done talking, all he could hear on the other line was silence. Sighing deeply, he could feel his patience waning.

The woman hummed softly before she told Levi to hold on. There was a slight banging sound that Levi guessed was the woman placing the phone on a table. He could hear muffled talking, not loud enough for Levi to understand what was being said but still noticeable. Levi waited silently until he heard movement on the other line. This time there was a younger man's voice that came through the phone. Levi was a bit surprised that the artist was actually a guy, but he did not let it show. "Yes? This is Eren Jaeger. Um, are you still there, Mr. Ackerman?" Levi listened as Eren's voice came through the phone. It was young and energetic, unlike Levi's dull voice. Levi could not help but find the voice to be rather refreshing.

Clearing his thoughts, Levi answered the young male. “Yes, I’m here. And you do not need to address me as Mr. Ackerman, just call me Levi as everyone else does, even if I tell them not to. Now, before we begin, I would like to ask you why you lied on your entry form.” Levi heard a soft laugh cross through the speaker. It was light and comfortable, but Levi could still tell it was a wholehearted laugh.

“Ah, sorry about that. I read in the conditions that the winner’s information would become public, and I just thought it would be best to have a slightly different alias. Sorry about lying and all that stuff,” Eren confessed. Levi could have sworn he heard the brat scratching at the back of his neck. As the black haired man was about to ask a question, Eren continued. “Thanks for calling me, Mr. Acker- uhm, Levi. I’m really excited about working for Survey Shoten, it’s always been a dream of mine to work as a mangaka. I have a lot of ideas that I really hope you’ll like. Though I guess saying ‘like’ is too much. I do write BL after all. Not many men like reading it, from what I’ve seen. But I still hope you’ll find at least one of my story ideas okay for a manga. Though I’m sure we’ll have to fix a lot of things. Oh, crap, I never truly thanked you for agreeing to edit me. Uhm, well, better late than never I guess!” The smile Levi could hear in Eren’s voice made him smirk. _Okay, so basically this brat’s as naive as they come. Though, I guess I’m lucky that’s he’s not starting out like all the other BL mangaka did. That would be even more of an annoyance._

Levi let out a small scoff in response to Eren. “Hey, kid, you’re rambling. You’re not the first mangaka to ever use a different name or gender. I just needed to edit the information so that it was right. Now, is the address still the same on your entry form? And no need to thank me, I wasn’t the one who chose this job. If it was up to me, I’d be editing Kuraishi Yuu right now. However, I have to take whatever artist the bastard tells me to, so if you’re going to thank anyone, thank Erwin Smith.” Levi paused to rub his temples. He was not excited for the trouble this artist was going to cause him, even if the brat did sound a bit more prepared than all the other BL mangaka Levi had edited since working at Survey Shoten. He was about to continue, but a pale hand holding a cup of tea caught his view, interrupting his thoughts entirely. Gently grabbing the cup of tea from the hand in front of him, Levi glanced up to the woman and nodded in thanks. He had never known how, but Petra, the receptionist of Survey Shoten, had always brought Levi a cup of tea when he really needed it. Bringing the cup up to his mouth, Levi savoured the smell of Barley tea. Oh course, Barley was never his favourite, but any form of tea during a long work day had always relaxed him.

Levi could hear a small sigh cross the phone’s speaker. “Oh, I didn’t know that was the case. I’m sorry you were forced to put up with me. I can’t believe I actually thought you had chosen me yourself. Heh, how ridiculous. The Levi Ackerman choosing a random contest winner to edit? Yeah, in my dreams.” Levi could hear the disappointment in Eren’s voice, and, for some reason, he felt sort of bad for being the one to cause the brat disappointment.

“Oi, brat, there’s no need for you to become depressed. That’s the last thing I need for you to do. It doesn’t matter whether I personally chose you or not, you have me as your editor now. Yes, I personally was not too ecstatic about having to edit another BL mangaka, but that does not mean I’m planning on slacking on editing you. I’m going to treat you as I do all the other artists, so don’t get all gloomy and shit. As long as you don’t try to bullshit this job, I won’t have the urge to throw you out a window. Now, whether or not you are able to make a manga memorable enough for this world is up to you, I’m just here to give advice and assist in making the manga fully ready.” Levi took a long sip from his tea. He had never been good at comforting people. or motivating, or whatever he was trying to do at the moment. But he just felt like he needed to say something to Eren to make up for the disappointment. “The rest is literally up to you, so if you want to sit around and be sad and shit, go ahead, but there’s no way for you make manga when sitting on your ass.”

 

Levi stayed silent for a moment, waiting for the mangaka to respond to his attempt at comforting. There was not much sound coming from the other line, causing Levi to have even more doubt in his little pep talk than he already had. Lifting his tea cup to his mouth, Levi realized he had already drank all of his tea. The silence was causing his impatience to increase by the second, and his glare was starting to darken, when a small giggle came through the phone. Levi could feel one of his eyebrows lift in curiosity. The laughter began to get louder and louder, and soon all Levi could hear was a set of laughter and wheezing. He had no idea what was making Eren laugh so much, but it was a nice sound, much better than the disappointment that was in Eren’s voice a few minutes before. Levi waited a few moments for the younger man to finish laughing before he spoke again. Levi’s lips turned up slightly in a smirk as he said, “What’s so funny, brat?”

Eren’s voice came through the speaker in broken speech as he tried to talk while still laughing. “Ah, haha, uhm, hah, so s-sorry, Levi! I just, hehe, I just was wondering if you, ha, normally try to moti- heh, motivate your mangaka like that, ehe. It’s just, heh, that your way of motivating me is, aha, quite uni- ha, unique. Though I think that was probably the, ehe, best pep talk I’ve ever had!” By the time Eren was done talking, Levi could tell his smirk had gotten bigger. Levi let out a soothing breath as the guilt of making Eren upset left his body. _So I was actually able to help the brat, eh? Well, that’s a relief._ Levi stopped smiling for a second as he realized he was actually relieved in the younger male’s reaction. _Wait, why the hell do I feel relieved? It shouldn’t matter if the little shit’s sad or depressed or whatever. As long as he does his work, I shouldn’t care._

Forcefully clearing his head, Levi remembered the reason he called the new mangaka. He needed to get Eren’s information correct and he needed to arrange a meeting so they could talk about manga ideas. “Alright, brat, since it seems your laughing fit is finally fucking over with.” Levi could hear a small giggle cross the speaker, and he rolled his eyes. “Oi, little shit, do I need to hang up on your ass?” Levi could hear Eren mubble something about not being little, but other than that, the line was silent. “I thought so. Now, is the address on your entry form the same as your current home? Also, do you have a studio that you normally do your work at already? If so, we need to meet there, preferably in the next few days, to talk about those ideas you were rambling on about earlier.”

When Levi finished talking, he could hear Eren softly talking to someone else. Levi thought it was probably the woman that he had spoken to earlier on the phone. “Ah, the address on the form is right, and I was just just talking to my sister, and I’m free tomorrow. I don’t really have an official studio because I normally just do my drawing in my room. Is it okay if we just have the meeting at my apartment? Mikasa is going out tomorrow, so it won’t be that crowded.” Levi thought about this for a moment. It wasn’t like this was his first time going to a mangaka’s home, he just did not know if he wanted to travel the 30 minutes on the train all the way to the Aichiken prefecture.

Looking at his computer screen, Levi brought up his schedule for the next day. He had an opening from 12 o’clock to 2, an hour of which would be him unfortunately riding the train to and from the brat’s apartment. Levi could feel his eyebrows furrow. He could already tell that he would have to rush his lunch in there somehow unless he wanted to wait until 7 o’clock in the evening to eat. _Eh, I’ll figure it out. I just need to make sure I don’t fucking miss that meeting with Isayama Hajime at 2:15. His schedule is already so fucking full, and if I miss him tomorrow, there’s no damn way I’ll be able to reschedule before next month._ “Alright, I can meet you tomorrow at your apartment. I can only meet from 12:30 to 1:30, due to all of my other appointments. Are you free during that time? If not, we’ll have to change the day.” He turned in his computer chair to face the window that looked out towards the other editors. Crossing his legs, Levi could see a mop of familiar brown hair enter from the hallway into the cubicle space. _Oh, dear fucking god, no._ Brown eyes meet Levi’s starling grey, and he could feel his entire body cringe. _Why couldn’t Hange stay busy for the rest of the day?_ Levi groaned loudly when he saw Hange begin to speed towards his office.

“Ah, 12:30 is fine with me. I don’t work at my part time job during the day anyway, so anytime before 5 is okay. Uh, um, Levi? Are you alright? I heard a really long groan? If you need to change the day, I’m okay with it. I just thought tomorrow would be good so I can start working.” Levi sat the phone down and tried to get to the door and lock it before Hange made it into the room, but he was too late as the brunet jumped into the room. Barely dodging Hange’s entrance, the shorter man sighed in irritation as he sat back down in his computer chair.

Picking back up the phone, Levi glared his coworker. Hange energetically waved in response to the black haired man’s annoyance. “No, it’s fine. I groaned because an aggravating piece of shit just walked into my office. We’ll talk about your ideas tomorrow and set up schedule that fits between the two of us. We’ll also talk about magazine opportunities tomorrow, so make sure you have all your ideas written down by the time I get there.” Ignoring the weird faces Hange was making, Levi waited patiently for Eren’s response.

“Okay, thanks, Levi! I hope we can make an amazing manga together! Even if you didn’t personally choose me, I’m sure I can make a manga memorable enough for this world! Ahaha, as sure as death and taxes as my mother used to say! Anyways, I’ll see you tomorrow, Levi.” Hearing the determined smile in Eren’s words made Levi smirk slightly as he typed the meeting into his schedule.

Once he was done typing, Levi sat back in his chair and looked at his computer. “Yeah, whatever, cocky brat. Just make sure to be ready tomorrow. I’d prefer not to have to ride a 30 minute train to your apartment just for you to not have your ideas down.” Levi could hear Eren’s laughter and he let a small chuckle leave his mouth. As they both gave their parting words, Levi glanced up to see Hange smiling down at him. He sat the phone back in its place, and looked up at the brunet with a curious look. “What is it, shitty glasses?”

Hange just smiled bigger, head shaking slightly. “Oh, nothing, just never thought I’d see the day where Mr. Levi Ackerman, the most difficult editor in Tokyo, would playfully bicker with a BL mangaka. I feel like I just saw bigfoot or something. Such an incredible, unexplainable phenomenon!” Hange jokingly gasped, moving to sit in the chair across from Levi. As he rolled his eyes, Levi crossed his legs and lifted his eyebrows in mock interest.

“Oh, really now? And what the fuck makes you believe I was ‘playfully bickering’ with him? I meant every damn word I said. It wouldn’t surprise me if that shitty brat did forget to prepare his ideas for tomorrow.” Turning to look back at his computer, Levi tried to ignore the suggestions Hange was making.

“You know, it is just so cute how you try to deny that you’ve taken a little liking to our newest mangaka, even if he is a BL artist. And you’re going to his apartment tomorrow, eh? But you two just started talking today! I personally thinking you’re moving way too fast. Let him take you out for dinner at least, Levi!” Hange was giggling as Levi glared from behind the computer. Hange’s laughter became full hearted and boisterous when Levi threw his stapler at the brunet, missing Hange’s head by mere centimeters.

  
All Levi said in response was a muttered, “Shut it, damn glasses.” Getting up from his chair, motioned for Hange to follow him. Locking his office door, Levi began walking towards the floor’s elevator. Feeling Hange’s gaze on his back, Levi rolled his eyes, slightly raising his arm so he could flip Hange the bird as he walked into the open elevator. Pressing the ground floor’s button, Levi could still hear Hange’s laughter as the elevator’s doors closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really, really, REALLY sorry if Levi's opinions on BL mangaka offended anyone! Those are not my personal opinions, I simply thought it would make the story a bit more interesting if Levi did not care for BL mangaka and then he would end up really liking one. I don't know if my idea got through the story to the readers, or if I just really offended a lot of BL mangaka


	2. Maybe If I Just Keep On Walking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the phone call with Levi, Eren talks with Mikasa and cleans his studio up a bit.

Placing the phone onto the table, Eren just stood there silently, smile widening as each second passed. He was finally going to do it. He was finally going to become a mangaka. _All those douche bags from high school better watch out! That otaku kid that used to draw and sketch in his math notebook during class is finally making it in life! HA HA, bitches! And I got Levi as my editor, too! Oh, man, I can already tell this is going to be awesome! I get to do what I like while also making money! Ah, if only mum could see me now._ Eren could feel his grin soften into a sad smile. It had been about five years since his mother’s death, and just the thought of her made him miss her warm hugs. _I know she’d be proud of me for finally reaching my dream. She was really the only one that supported me in my dream of being an artist. Even Mikasa tried to tell me to set a different goal._ Laughing gently, Eren remembered all the times Mikasa had argued with him on getting a stable job. But as Eren never went to college, there were not many places that would hire him for anything besides part time shifts. _Well, Mika was only thinking of me, so I can’t really be angry at her for being worried._

Walking from the apartment’s living room into his bedroom, Eren realized just how dirty his drawing space was. His desk was covered in splotches of ink from where he had forgotten to clean the small droplets his pens would make when he removed them from the ink bottle. Eren could see random pieces of cut tones covering the floor and parts of his desk. His pencils and pens were scattered on top the desk and his marker display was missing various colours. Sighing, Eren picked up the pieces of sketch papers he had been working on before he got the call from Levi. He felt a little giddy remembering the phone call, smiling so wide his eyes closed. _Aaahh, this is just so surreal! And Levi is so different from what I expected my editor to be like. I didn’t think such a famous editor would curse so much, and call people ‘little shits’ and stuff._

Eren snickered to himself as he looked down at his latest project. He tried to remember what he was trying to accomplish when he drew the sketch. There was a teenager dressed in his school’s uniform, hair stylishly messy, being forced back into a wall. His face was a mixture of confusion and terror as a bigger student traps the teen against the wall. The next panel shows a window with a few students leaving the school’s grounds, with the sun setting, the panel shows that the day is over and it’s only the two students left at the school. There are two other panels on the page, one showing the bigger teenager leaning back from the scared teen, the other only being half finished with outlines that seem to show the other student leaning in towards the frightened teenager.

Sighing, Eren started picking up the other stray pieces of sketch paper. Once he had his hands full with the stack of papers, Eren walked over to his small storage organizer and placed the papers down in the first drawer. Eren closed the drawer gently and then began picking up the random pencils and pens littering the desk and floor. After picking up a few pens from the floor, Eren stood back to look at his progress. Heh, it’s already looking better! Placing the pens and pencils in their respective sides of his desk organizer, Eren walked into the apartment’s bathroom and opened one of the cabinets to get an old washrag and alcohol to clean his desks surface.

When he was walking back towards his room, Eren could feel a pair of eyes burning the back of his hear. _Maybe if I just keep on walking, she won’t bother me._ He took a couple of steps closer to his bedroom before he heard sister clear her throat, promptly stopping him in his place. Eren laughed nervously as he turned back to look at his sister. “H-ahem- Ah, Hey, Mika. Today’s quite beautiful, isn’t it? I think I’ll go out for a walk today. How about you?” Eren raised his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it slightly. When he stopped laughing and scratching his neck, Eren just stared at his uninterested sister.  Coughing lightly, Eren just waited in the silence.

“Eren, it’s below 15 degrees celsius and raining,” was all Mikasa said in response to Eren. As he looked out the apartment’s window, Eren saw that it was, in fact, pouring down rain. Wincing slightly, Eren just smiled awkwardly at his sister. Standing up from the couch she had been sitting at, Mikasa walked closer to her brother. “Why didn’t you tell me you entered that contest? Or that you won?” Mikasa sounded genuinely upset that Eren had withheld the truth from her.

Sighing, Eren grabbed Mikasa’s arm and walked towards the living room. Once they were both seated on the black couch, Eren began to talk. “I thought if I told you I was working on another contest, you’d tell me to stop and focus on my part time job. I spent the time you were at the gym with Annie drawing my entry, and I’m honestly glad I didn’t tell you. If I had, I’d probably be too distracted by the way you would have reacted to actually draw a winning entry. And I wanted to wait to tell you until I had an official job with Survey Shoten. It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, Mika, I just wanted to make sure everything was ready so you wouldn’t worry.” Eren looked at his sister with a soft smile, reassuring her that he did not have any negative emotions that caused him to lie. “ And before you say anything, I’m not planning on quitting my part time job, I’ll draw the manga in the morning, so it won’t interfere with my other job. Though I probably with have to ask them to cut my hours a bit.” He laughed lightly when Mikasa raised her eyebrows, releasing a deep sigh.

  
“Look, Eren. I’m happy that you won, really, I am. It’s just, I know how unstable these kinds of jobs are, and I don’t want there to be any chance you can possibly get hurt because of it. Though, I guess it’s a good thing you’re following your dream. But I do still want you to work at the convenience store, so you can still have a job if something goes wrong.” Mikasa looked at Eren strictly, leaving no room for argument. He chuckled loudly, nodding his head. Looking into his sister’s eyes, Eren grinned largely, showing his white teeth. “You said your editor’s coming tomorrow, right? Well, me and Annie are going to the gym around 12:30, so I won’t be here. Make sure you offer him some tea because I know how you sometimes forget proper Japanese hospitality. Now go on and get back to cleaning that ‘studio’ of your’s.” Mikasa laughed softly when Eren got up from the couch and stuck his tongue at her, raising her hand to playfully slap him on the arm. Walking out of the living room, Eren smiled to himself and silently thanked his sister for being so understanding.


	3. I Have To Do It All Over Again?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While at home, Levi decides to actually take a look at the winning entry, being pleasantly surprised by the one-shot. Then Levi and Eren finally met at the brat's apartment.

_Finally, home at fucking last._ Levi walked into his apartment with little care of how loud he slammed his door. Slipping off his shoes, Levi slide on his house slippers and placed his shoes in front of his door. Walking towards his kitchen, Levi could hear the soft jingle of a bell, making him aware of the ball of fur close to him. Looking down at his foot, Levi could see the white and black feline rubbing against his leg, begging for attention. “Corporal, what is it? Are you hungary? Damn fat cat. Eating me out of house and home, that’s for fucking sure. Heh, as sure as death and taxes as that brat said.”

Picking up the cat, Levi walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Standing on his toes, Levi reached for one of the cat food cans. Finally grabbing a can, Levi leaned down and stood flat on his feet again. “I swear if those two would have seen me struggling like that, I’d never hear the end of it.” Levi mumbled as he opened the can and winced when he smelled the disgusting stench of wet cat food. “I don’t know how you fucking do it. That smells like absolute shit.” Taking a spoon and spreading half of the food on a small dish, Levi could hear the soft mews coming from Corporal. “Yeah, yeah, here you go, little bastard.” He sat the plate on a small rug made specifically for having food and water placed on it.

Leaning on his counter, Levi watched as the little bundle of fur ate the wet food loudly. “Tch. You better not make a mess.” He wrapped the cat food up and placed it in the refrigerator so it could be saved for tomorrow. Taking the spoon he had previously used, Levi went to the sink and began cleaning the utensil with great care. Once he was done, Levi dried the spoon and placed it in his utensil organizer. Sighing, Levi made himself a cup of tea, allowing himself to relax a few moments before he would have to make dinner for himself.

Levi walked over to his dining table where he had placed his briefcase when he had gotten home. Opening the brown leather case, the silver eyed man saw a familiar folder. As he opened the folder, Levi could see how the manuscript papers had moved underneath the entry form, showing nicely done ink and skin tones that had been beautifully placed on the papers. Removing the first piece of paper, Levi was greeted by a beautifully coloured cover page. At the bottom of the page in a deep red colour were the words “Kagami ga Kiss,” written in a curving font. Of course, that was not what caught Levi’s attention the most. It was the image of two men embracing each other that made him unable to look away from the cover. Of course it was pretty typical for the two main characters to be on the cover for a BL manga, but it was the position and art style that caught Levi’s attention. Rather than having bad anatomy and all too sharp features, the two males on the paper were drawn beautifully. Behind the two men, splotches of blue and white were placed on the page creatively to help make the two characters stand out.

One of the men looked old than the other, having dark black hair. He was wear a white button down shirt that was pulled halfway up his forearm, as well as dark blue slacks with a tan belt. His shirt suggested that he was muscular, but not so much that it was disgusting. The white button down opened up just above where the man’s pants began, showing a bit of his stomach. The black haired character was pulling the other male close to him, allowing their lips to meet softly. With his hands on the, what seemed to be, younger man, the character seemed to show all of his emotions with just his body.

The other character was a whole other story. He looked to be a few years younger than the black haired man. With brown, messy locks, this male had a beautiful blush on his face as he leaned into the older man. Wearing a green and yellow jacket, the brunet had his arms wrapped around the man’s neck. His legs were covered by red pants and he had one of the black haired man’s legs in between his own, as if he had jumped into the embrace. The younger man seemed eager and as if he had been waiting to be with the other for a long time.

Levi could not believe all the emotion he could feel from just the one image. It was, if he was completely honest, beautiful. The shading was simply amazing and the choice of colours were brilliant. It was no surprise to him that this manga had won the audition, and that was him saying it with just looking at the cover page.

Closing the briefcase, Levi walked over to his couch and sat the folder on the coffee table in front of him. He began to flip through the other pages to see if the rest of the one-shot lived up to the cover. Levi was simply amazed that this was done by a twenty one year old. Picking up the entry form, Levi looked to make sure he had not misread the numbers written next to the age portion of the form. He had not read wrong. The number 21 was written in bright red ink on the line. Shaking his head, Levi continued to look at the rest of the one-shot, studying every panel his eyes came across.

 **  
**Setting down the folder, Levi thought about the artist he had talked to on the phone earlier. They surely could not be the same person. Maybe this was some sort of prank Hange decided to play on him. No, there’s no way. Hange was way too busy with the other BL mangaka to play a prank on Levi. Sighing, Levi just accepted the fact that the artist of the one-shot he had on his table was the same brat he had talked to on the phone. Leaving his seat on the couch, Levi began making himself dinner, thoughts filled with a certain new mangaka he was originally forced to edit.

* * *

The next morning, Levi felt a bit better than he normally did. He was able to have a cup of his new black tea during breakfast, and he woke up earlier so he was able to catch the second train from Hachioji, meaning he missed the morning rush hour and less people were on the train than normal. Walking into Survey Shoten, Levi was meet with a quiet building. No annoying Hange came running after him as he entered the building, and that was always a plus for Levi. He was able to breeze right through his morning appointments, and before he knew it, 12 o’clock rolled around. Grabbing a cup of coffee from the building’s kitchen, Levi began to walk back to the station. If he made the next train, he would be able to get to Aichiken and the brats apartment within 30 minutes.

As he made it onto the train, Levi stood in front of the door he would have to leave from. Raising his hand so that he could grab at one of the handles, Levi looked out the window to see buildings passing by. He took his cell phone out of his pocket when he heard his ringtone begin to play. As he looked down at the caller ID, Levi physically cringed. Opening the phone, Levi quickly said, “What do you want, Hange?”

“Whoa! Wait! What exactly have you done with the real Levi Ackerman? No snarky remark and my actual name being called? This has got to be some doppelganger trying to pass off as my little Levi. Well, I’ll tell you this, clone! I see right through your plan! I’ve known Levi for ten years, and your horrible acting does not fool me!” Levi pulled the phone away from his ear as Hange screamed into the phone.

Grabbing his ear, Levi glared at his phone. “What the actual fuck, shitty four eyes? Why not blow my fucking ears off in the damn process. Seriously. I’m on the train right now, so tell me what the fuck it is that you called me for.” Levi clicked his tongue when he heard Hange’s boisterous laughter cross the phone line. He was slightly thrown forward when the train stopped at a station. He was only two stations away, so it wouldn’t be too long before he would be able to get off the train.

Once Hange was done laughing, Levi let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, I was just checking in on my little friend to make sure you were on your way to your new mangaka’s apartment! I was talking to Petra this morning, and she says he’s one hell of a looker, if you know what I mean. Though we can’t have you falling for him on the first day, now, can we? Ahaha, anywho, have you had lunch yet? I also wanted to make sure you were taking care of yourself as well. I know how you sometimes forget to have lunch when you have busy days.” Hange’s voice softened slightly when asking about whether Levi had had lunch or not.

Sighing again, Levi’s lips lifted lightly. “No, I haven’t eaten just yet. Though if the meeting with the brat goes smoothly, I should be able to get lunch before I meet with Isayama. Thanks for your concern, four eyes, but I’m not like I was five years ago. I now actually make sure I eat all three meals a day, for the most part.” Felling the train slow down again, Levi realized he was only one station away from his destination.

“Ah, well, that’s good to hear. But you know I won’t ever not be worried about whether you’re eating or not. I still wonder whether or not one day I’ll find you unconscious at you desk again. That was quite the unnerving incident, Levi. You scared all of us that day.” As Hange talked, Levi just listened. This wasn’t the first time he had been told about Hange’s experience with finding a fainted Levi at Survey Shoten. _That was around the time I was editing Fujiwara Hiro, her manga was getting so popular and I wasn’t exactly used to the work load, I just kind of ignored my basic needs and focused on work. I still remember waking up in the hospital with Hange sitting beside my bed looking at me with such concern_. Ignoring the memories, Levi thought about how long the meeting with Eren would be.

“Oi, shitty glasses, I told you before, didn’t I? I’m not that unprofessional brat that I used to be. I know when it’s time to eat lunch now. Damn, I don’t recall my mother becoming my co-worker.” Hearing the train’s doors open, Levi began to walk out onto the platform. “I just got off the train, so I’ll be at the brats in a few minutes.” Hearing only silence on the line, Levi sighed. “Listen, thanks for worrying about me, Hange, but seriously, I’m fine. I learned back then that I’m not invincible and that I need food to survive. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you later tonight at the bar.”

As Levi walked up the stairs into the street, he could hear Hange softly chuckle. “Alright, Levi. I’ll see you tonight at Mike’s. Bye-bye.” Quickly giving his goodbye, Levi closed his phone and looked around at the street signs to figure out which way he needed to go to get to Eren’s apartment. It had been a while since he had gone to Aichiken, and he was a little rusty when it came to navigating the prefecture.

Seeing a sign that had the block number 5-2-1, Levi began walking down the street looking for the Kyoto Heights apartment building. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he was able to locate the building. It was not anything like his own apartment building, as his apartment was more expensive since it was closer to the center of Tokyo. The apartment building itself wasn’t anything special, just a three story building with stairs leading to each floor from the street. Looking down at the piece of paper Levi had, he saw that he was looking for apartment 307. Walking up the stairs, Levi took out his phone to see what time it was. 12:28. _Right on time_. As he reached the third floor, Levi glanced at the apartment number director, seeing Eren’s place was to the left. He walked for a few moments before the numbers 307 came into view.

Once Levi made sure he had his briefcase with him, he knocked three times on the apartment door, waiting patiently for the door to open. It took a few moments for Eren to finally open the door, but once he did, Levi just stood there and stared at the man in front of him. There had only been a few times in Levi’s life where he could honestly say he was speechless, and this had just taken first place if those moments competed. There was no way the brat he had talked to yesterday on the phone was the same person in front of him. The idea of this being a prank had flashed in Levi’s mind once again because he would not have thought the person in front of him would be a BL mangaka.

The male standing behind the door had brown shaggy hair, styled messily enough to give him fresh look. He was wearing a pair of brown cargo pants that he was able to match with a kind of tight deep green tee-shirt. But it wasn’t the clothes that demanded Levi’s attention, it was the male’s eyes that Levi couldn’t look away from. They were a deep green colour, almost identical to the shirt he was wearing, except for the fact that near the pupil there was splashes of a dark turquoise blue. Looking into the eyes of this stranger gave Levi the feeling of floating in an ocean. Levi could already tell the brunet had long eyelashes, and that only enhanced the deep colour of his eyes. Allowing his eyes to travel down the man’s front, Levi could already tell there was an amazing body under those clothes. Not only was he at least ten centimeters taller than Levi, but he had wide shoulders and a flat stomach.

It seemed Levi had had the same shocking effect on the man in front of him. His eyes were slightly wide and his lips were opening and closing over and over again. Levi did not know whether that was a good thing or not, but he just went with it being a good thing. Looking the man up and down again, Levi smirked. “Heh, so this is the so called good looker Petra was talking about? All I see is a shitty brat,” Levi knew he was lying through his teeth, but there was no way he was going to say what he was actually thinking. The brunette's cheeks turned red in embarrassment at being called good looking, but soon changed to roll his eyes at Levi.

Grinning widely, the young man allowed his white teeth to be on display for Levi. “Why, good afternoon to you as well, Levi. It seems you got here with no problems.” Moving to open the door wider, Eren invited the black haired man into his apartment. Taking his shoes off, Levi placed them next what he presumed to be Eren’s shoes. Eren handed him a pair of house slippers and he gratefully slid them on. “There’s the living room, you can sit anywhere but the floor. The floor is off limits.” Eren laughed deeply when he heard Levi say, “Damn, but I so wanted to sit on your disgusting floor.”

As Levi walked into the living room, he noticed a lot of family photos on the coffee tables and television center. One in particular caught Levi’s gaze. There was a lovely looking couple standing behind a young girl and boy. The boy, smiling so big his eyes were closed, had brown hair and scratches all over his face. He had a bandaid just above his left eyebrow, while the woman, whom Levi guessed was the boy’s mother was holding a box of bandaids. The man in the picture was looking straight at the camera, a small smile on his face. In front of the man stood a little girl that was simply staring at the young boy, her right hand grabbing at her red scarf. It was strange, seeing such a happy family. Levi had never really had a happy family life when he was younger, so seeing it in the picture in front of him made him want to ask Eren what it was like.

Levi could hear Eren’s footsteps coming towards the living room and so he looked towards the room’s entrance. He was slightly surprised when he saw Eren enter the room with a tray of tea in his hands. “My sister reminded me before she left to make tea for when you arrived. I hope you like Kabuse Cha tea. It’s all I could find in the cupboard.” Eren said as he sat the tray onto the coffee table. Handing Levi his tea, Eren picked up his tea and sat in the chair next to the couch Levi had sat on.

Sipping on the tea, Levi wondered whether it would be appropriate to ask Eren about the picture. “Hey, I was wondering, is that you in that picture over near the television.” It seemed Levi’s question caught Eren off guard as he jumped slightly in his chair when Levi spoke. Eren asked the black haired man to repeat himself, which made Levi click his tongue. “I asked if that little shit over in that picture is you or not.” Eren just simply ‘hmm’ed and got up from his seat.

As he walked over to the television, Eren picked up the photograph Levi was talking about. “Oh, this? Yeah, that’s me.” Eren flipped the frame so Levi could see the picture. He was pointing at the little boy in the picture that Levi had originally thought was Eren. “And that’s my sister, Mikasa, and my mum and dad. This was taken at the park down from the station. I had ran to the park ahead of everyone and fell on my face. Hannes, a family friend, took this while mum was trying to patch me up. Hehe, this was taken during a good time. Dad was around and mum wasn’t sick or anything. Actually I think this was taken right when they officially adopted Mika, too!” Eren laughed lightly, but Levi felt there was some underneath that laughter. Ignoring his thought, Levi just drank his tea silently as Eren reminisced about the past.

“You all seem pretty happy. Especially you. With that shit eating grin on your face, it’s obvious you were one hell of a trouble maker.” Levi said nonchalantly, sipping a bit of tea from his cup. He hear Eren laugh lightly again; however; this time the sound was genuinely happy.

Looking at Levi, Eren nodded his head. “The bad part about what you said is that it’s true. I would always get in trouble at school and in the neighborhood. I constantly came home with new injuries due to how often I would get in fights. Granted, the fights were normally caused by people bullying my best friend Armin, but still. And it I never actually won any of the fights. Mika always came in to save me, but the bullies would always get scared because of her and run off. Luckily my anger kind of lessen after high school, so I haven’t really gotten into fights much since I was 17.” Eren leaned forward to lay his cup of tea on the coffee table. He was looking at the ceiling, obviously recalling his childhood, when Levi responded.’

“Heh, however shitty that sounds, it seems like parts of your childhood were pretty fucking great. What made you decided to become a mangaka? Besides figuring out how much money you can make if your manga becomes big.” Levi looked at Eren with interest as the brunet placed his hand on his chin in thought.

Looking down from the ceiling, sterling grey met an ocean of blues and greens. ”Hmm, well, I guess I’ve always had a love for drawing. Even in high school I would sketch in my notebooks rather than pay attention. But I think what really made me want to follow this dream was my mother. She always supported me. It’s kind no funny, really, that she actually wanted me to become a mangaka. All of my friends in high school had parents that wanted them to be doctors and policemen and lawyers, but not my mum. She always told me that with everyone aiming to be doctors and lawyers, there would be a need for mangaka. She told me once that mangaka are as important as doctors and policemen. We’re the ones that create the heroes and role models that little kids look up to. We’re the ones that help motivate children to reach for goals, just like the characters in our manga and anime. She was always there for me when I felt afraid to reach for something or felt I couldn’t do something. So if anything made me want to reach my goal, it would be her.”

Levi could hear the past tense used in Eren’s response, but he decided to not comment on it. It was most likely a sore topic, and though Levi knew he could be rude, he was not a dick. “She sounds like one hell of an amazing woman. Wise, too.” Levi looked at Eren with sincere eyes, hoping Eren could see the hidden message in them.

“Mhm, she was.” Eren smiled softly towards Levi, looking into the shorter man’s eyes. They sat like that for a few moments, just comfortable in the silence they had created. Eren eventually coughed lightly to get Levi attention. “So, let’s talk about those ideas I mentioned yesterday! There’s one in particular that I really hope you’ll find acceptable. However, you’re the editor, so you’re the one that knows which is the best idea. in all I have around 5 plot lines I think are the best out of everything I’ve brainstormed.” Eren smiled as he looked at Levi. He leaned forward to place his tea cup on the tray, and looked at Levi for any objections as he reached for the other cup as well.

Levi just sat there silently as Eren grabbed the two cup and began to get up to place them in the kitchen sink. “Before we talk about that, I want to see the place you drew your one-shot entry. Depending on what shitty project we get for you, you might be able to keep it as your studio. But if you are able to get included in a weekly magazine, which will be a fucking miracle because those are hard as hell to get a new mangaka like you on, you’ll most likely have to move your studio to another location so you can have more room for you and your assistants.” Levi said loud enough so Eren could hear it in the kitchen.

Eren ran back into the room and was basically jumping up and down now. “I get my own assistants?! Awesome! Making that twenty page one-shot took over two months to do by myself, so having people to help will be amazing!” For some reason, seeing Eren as he was now made Levi imagined the twenty-one year old in front of him as a puppy, jumping up and down wanting to play.

“Whoa, calm the fuck down, brat. Take me to your ‘studio’ first, and then we’ll talk about the assistants.” Levi smirked when he saw Eren deflate from an excited puppy back to a normal person. He nodded and motioned for Levi to follow him down a hallway towards an open door. When Levi walked into the room, the first thing he saw was the unorganized desk in front of the bed. “Oh, **hell no**.” Levi glared at Eren so darkly, the brunet had no idea how to react. All he did was stand up straight and give the man a confused and terrified look. “Look at this disgusting work space you have been drawing at. Fucking unorganized as shit. Clean it.” Levi began to walk back towards the living room when he heard eren croak out a response.

Rushing towards Levi, Eren said, “W-what do you mean, “clean it”? I cleaned it last night. I even used alcohol to clean the ink up.” He looked almost desperate to get Levi to understand that it was clean.

Turning around, Levi looked back into the room from the hallway. “It’s completely unacceptable. Do it all over again.” As Levi sat on the couch once again, he took out his phone to check his emails to make sure he had not missed anything from other mangaka or editors.

  
“Huh? I have to do it all over again?” Before Eren could complain any further, Levi looked at him with a glare that kill. Eren practically jumped from the sight and ran to get the rag and alcohol from the bathroom. _Heh, just like a dog with its tail between its legs._

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~! Hope you enjoyed the first three chapters! I'll have the last chapter up either later today or early tomorrow, so no need to fret~! It should not go unfinished for long! But really, I sincerely hope you like it so far. c:
> 
> Also credit to Kure's amazing drawing that I used as Eren's manga cover! http://kurekuro.tumblr.com/post/105436828193/fully-coloured-revised-version-sort-of-of-this

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~! Okay, so I hope you enjoyed this! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you had as much enjoyment reading this as I did writing it. I was really happy when I saw this was one of the prompts I could have chosen from, as I've been meaning to write something like this for a while. I must also apologize. I am really, really, REALLY sorry if Levi's opinions on BL mangaka offended anyone! Those are not my personal opinions, I simply thought it would make the story a bit more interesting if Levi did not care for BL mangaka and then he would end up really liking one. I don't know if my idea got through the story to the readers, or if I just really offended a lot of BL mangaka. OTL I also thought it would interesting to try and write Hange as non-binary, and I must say, it's a lot harder than I originally anticipated. I refrained from using them/their because it's technically not grammatically correct when writing while referring to one person, so that really cut my writing possibilities for Hange down. :'c Though I would like to say that I really enjoyed writing this, even if it take me a week or two to get motivated, mostly due to finals week disrupting my flow~~ (Okay, I just wanted to sound cool with saying 'flow,' but really, finals can really put a damper on writing!) But since this was mainly for the Ereri secret santa exchange, I really hope my recipient, KureKuro, liked this. You have such amazing art, I just hope my writing makes you as happy as your Ereri posts make me. (I was constantly going onto your tumblr to try and get a small glimpse of what you like [I didn't want to bother you with too many asks], and your drawings are simply amazing!! ) Yes, well, thanks for reading! And happy holidays, Kure~~! (=ﾟωﾟ)ﾉ


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